Swedish retro rockers The Riven are set to return on March 1st with their new self-titled opus. ‘The Riven’ follows 2017’s ‘Blackbird’ EP and is better in almost every respect.
Fans of the EP can expect similar 70s influenced sounds on the upcoming full-length, only this time, the great riffs are complimented with better songwriting and much better production values. The album is a hard rock highlight of 2019’s first quarter.
In 2017, King Black Acid returned with the ‘Twin Flames’ EP. Their best recording to date, the new material fused dream pop, prog rock and tinges of Mercury Rev to create a true underground classic. Later that year, a full length collaboration with The Crystal Unicorn gave the world a record that, although a little uneven, at its very best sounded like the music Flaming Lips had long forgotten how to make.
Irish singer songwriter Lisa Hannigan has been recording for seventeen years. She first came to fame via her appearances on Damien Rice’s early albums, but her own ‘Sea Sew’ album from 2008 propelled her to stardom and earnt her a Mercury Prize nomination for the song ‘Lille’.
Each of her subsequent albums have been critically acclaimed and her career has continued to thrill fans. In May, Lisa will release her first full length live album, ‘Live In Dublin’, recorded with Stargaze.
Tony Palmer’s legendary film of Tangerine Dream’s 1975 UK visit has a troubled history. What should have been a fantastic document of a unique event ended up being a bit of a botch under the watchful eye of Richard Branson, when an executive decision was made to pair the visuals with (then) previously unreleased music, regardless of what was played at the show itself.
A new ‘Director’s Cut’ DVD finally married the images to the correct soundtrack, but a super-deluxe box set for 2019 goes a step further.
Plane Groovy Records were well ahead of the curve with regards to any kind of vinyl revival. Long before the retro format had a huge presence in HMV and before Record Store Day became a cash-cow on the record buyers’ calendar, the UK label was championing the format with high quality pressings of cult titles. They provided the only physical format for the first Strange Majik album and were responsible for bespoke, limited pressings of Big Big Train albums and more besides.